The company is also mulling to enter the currency futures space through the exchange. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India had issued guidelines for SME exchange, and had set a minimum net worth criteria of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) for entity willing to start it.
Steel major Tata Steel plans to become a partner in Canada-based New Millennium Capital Corp's $4-billion KeMag property, having iron ore reserves in excess of two billion tonnes.
The survey would take 6-8 months and as part of the concession, Essar would be able to conduct exploratory mining for iron ore, manganese ore, chrome ore or any other available mineral. The area, that Essar has earmarked for exploration, measures 7,851.69 hectares and is one of the larger deposits. The mining concession was granted by departmento nacional de producao mineral, government of Brazil, in response to Essar's application.
In spite of some initial hiccups due to problems in land acquisition, the real estate projects by Unitech in West Bengal were now on track. After facing delays due to problems in land acquisition, work at the proposed logistics hub on Kona Expressway had started.
The small loan size, strict vigil of bankers and the already high interest rates paid by the borrowers to moneylenders make the scheme attractive for banks. Banks are also devising new models for recovering such loans, mostly by deploying agents or vendors on a daily or weekly basis in rural areas.
Buyers prefer to wait on expectation of better bargains.
Steel prices have come down by around 40 per cent since July this year. At present, prices of hot-rolled coil are ruling at Rs 30,000-32,000 a tonne. Ispat Industries director (finance) Anil Sureka said ex-factory prices of hot rolled coils were even lower.
The market has seen 30 per cent fall in demand in the last two months. In tandem, property prices, especially the residential ones, have fallen by 15-20 per cent across the board in the last two months. Rentals for offices too have fallen, with companies averse to shift to new offices in a bid to check costs. In case of retail malls, ector experts said, all leasing activity had come to a standstill, with no retailer willing to open a shop.
Banks are busy advertising attractive deposit rates that are on offer, lining up roadshows and door-to-door campaigns. Some of them are even offering incentives to their employees to woo depositors. As a result, they expect to mop up more than 20 per cent of what they usually do during November. Banks have also stepped up the deposit-mobilisation drive because they will be reducing interest rates from December.
The project at Salboni was welcomed by people and political parties alike, manifested by festoons welcoming Sajjan Jindal from all parties along the road leading to the site. Jindal complemented the mood at the ceremony with his farmer-friendly speech. "Industry and agriculture go hand-in-hand. My father, O P Jindal, was a farmer and he told all his sons that no wrong must be done to farmers," he said.
In spite of the government's efforts to help cooperative banks post the farm loan relief scheme, through the liquidity support fund, the banks are facing huge cash deficits.
At least three steel companies-JSW Steel, Jindal Stainless and Bhushan Steel-have decided to wait for the financial storm to pass before they take up their expansion plans. Ministry may not achieve target to cross 100 MT output by 2012.
Singur divided between those who want Tata back and those who just want their land.
The West Bengal government's new compensation package for 'unwilling' farmers in Singur, 40km from Kolkata, might have been praised by Tata Motors, but those involved in land transactions in the area find the offer inadequate.
The protestors' claim was made after the much-anctipated first inspection of the factory site on Wednesday by a committee set up under the aegis of West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi to examine the ways of solving a controversy that had arisen after some farmers had refused compensation for the land acquired for the project.
Vendors are ready to pull out of Singur and follow Tata Motors, said some of them, a day after Ratan Tata threatened to do so.
NMDC Spice International, a proposed 50:50 joint venture between state-owned miner NMDC and Spice Minerals and Metals, a part of the Spice Energy group, is close to acquiring two iron ore deposits in Armenia. The acquisition is likely to entail an investment of $500 million (Rs 2,173 crore).
Led by the record increase in benchmark iron ore prices, steel rates are set to climb steeply from August, immediately after the three-month period during which steel producers had promised the government to hold prices gets over.
Essar Steel is likely to join the race for Brazilian miner and steelmaker CSN's Nacionale Minerios (Namisa), a fully integrated iron ore company. Sources close to the development said Goldman Sachs has approached Essar with the acquisition proposal and the company was considering it.
Spiralling prices of foodgrains and edible oil and low jute prices in the last couple of months have prompted a large number of jute farmers to shift to paddy and oilseed cultivation in the eastern part of the country. With jute farmers anticipating lower prices for their produce, many of them have opted for paddy and oilseeds in the next cropping season